Captain Rochford, a native of Scituate, Massachusetts, attended the Massachusetts Maritime Academy where he earned his Bachelor of Science in Marine Transportation in 1985.

His initial tours included Main Propulsion Assistant on board the USS HARRY E YARNELL (CG-17) followed by assignment as Executive Officer Naval Reserve Center Tampa, Florida, hosting HMS Britannia on her historic visit to Knight General Schwarzkopf.

Captain Rochford then completed a series of Naval Reserve assignments including Assistant Joint Munitions Officer in the Logistics Directorate (J4) and as a Command Center Watch Officer in the Operations Directorate (J3) at U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) at MacDill AFB in Tampa. In March of 2001, he assumed duties as the Branch Chief and Senior Watch Officer on active duty for the CENTCOM Command Center.

During OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM, Captain Rochford served as a Team Chief in the CENTCOM Joint Operations Center (JOC) and then forward deployed to Camp Al Saliyah, Qatar to continue serving in the JOC as a Team Chief during OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM’s (OIF) major combat operations.

Captain Rochford then served as the Executive Officer, Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head, Maryland followed as the on-site project manager for the Joint Awareness Vital Enhancements and Linked Information Network (JAVELIN) project at Patch Barracks, Stuttgart, Germany. In 2006, Captain Rochford assumed duties as the Crisis Action Team (CAT) Chief during the Lebanon Non-Combatant Evacuation Operations (NEO) from NAVCENT in Bahrain evacuating 15,000 US Citizens.

In 2007, Captain Rochford reported for special assignment as the Deputy for Plans and Policy at Command Submarine Forces U.S. Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. He also holds the distinction of serving as the first Deputy Commander, Theater Anti-Submarine Warfare (TASW) Operations for Commander Task Force FIFTY-FOUR (CTF-54) – SEVENTY-FOUR (CTF-74) in Yokosuka, Japan from 2008 to 2010. It was during these high visibility operational assignments that Captain Rochford was augmented back to the Navy and permanently retained on active duty.

Captain Rochford graduated from the U.S. Naval War College in 2011 with a Master of Arts in National Security and Strategic Studies, additionally attaining the distinction as an Arleigh Burke Fellow and a Samuel L. Gravely Scholar. Following the War College he was assigned to the CNO’s Naval Warfare Integration Group (N00X) on the OPNAV staff, focusing on ASW interoperability and integration. Recently he served as the U.S. Fleet Forces Liaison Officer to the Pentagon where he represented all of the Fleet’s interests and equities and advised OPNAV on wholeness priorities during the POM 14, 15, and 16 builds. Additionally, he facilitated numerous highly visible briefs to Professional Staff Members of the HASC and SASC. His last assignment as Commodore, Maritime Prepositioning Ships Squadron THREE (MPSRON-3), based in Guam, is where he had tactical control of the thirteen ships carrying afloat prepositioned U.S. military cargo for the U.S. Marine Corps, the U.S. Army, and the U.S. Air Force, and innovatively executed full ROMO operations including HADR.

Captain Rochford’s current assignment as Commodore, Naval Beach Group ONE, based in Coronado, CA, where he serves as ISIC to ACB-1, ACU-5, BMU-1, and ACU-1. As well as executing/supporting 3rd, 5th, and 7th Fleet’s amphibious operations, well deck certification on all amphibs in 3rd and 7th Fleets, MPF operations, and exercising Title 10 responsibilities for NBU-7 in Sasebo, Japan. Additionally acting as Class Advocate for all LCACs/SSCs, LCUs 1600 and 1700 class, LARCs, Ubs, and ESDs.

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